


Piper and the Road Less Taken

by Tequilamj



Category: Orange is the New Black
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, F/F, Recreational Drug Use
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-01
Updated: 2018-12-01
Packaged: 2019-09-05 00:31:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16800121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tequilamj/pseuds/Tequilamj
Summary: Piper is a wide-eyed college freshman. Alex is a nearby drug dealer with a large college student client base. Piper and Polly go to buy weed and Piper almost immediately loses her mind over the cool, older raven-haired beauty. Complications ensue. Heavy drug use.





	Piper and the Road Less Taken

**Author's Note:**

> I don't _quite_ know where this is going so bear with me.

Without any sort of warning, Piper's dorm room door flies open and reveals Polly Harper framed in the doorway.

“What the fuck?” Janae yells from where she's sprawled on her bed with headphones in. “This isn't your fucking room! You _could_ knock!” 

Polly just meets Piper's eyes and grins. 

“Show some respect,” Janae grumbles, settling back into her pillows. “Fucking white people. Man.”

“Sorry, Janae!” Polly chirps, not sounding particularly sorry. Piper hasn't exactly hit it off with her angry roommate, a situation that has not been helped by Polly treating their room like her own, or obviously finding Janae's moodiness amusing. Piper feels some anxiety over it, that old need to be liked rearing up. Still, it's only a whisper of anxiety. College Piper feels like a different person than pre-college Piper - over-achieving, follow-the-rules, quintessential good girl Piper. Away from her repressed mother and absent father, she is finding herself. College is learning – it's _languishing_ in learning, reading and discussing and dissecting. College is partying, drinking and dancing and sleeping with guys, stumbling back to her room and not having to sneak past disapproving parents. College is hanging out with her new best friend, Polly, who is blunt and funny and gets her. Overall it's newness, it's freedom. 

“Let's go, Pipe,” Polly urges, waving encouragingly towards the door. She and Polly are going to buy weed and hang out with some guys at their dorm. Piper still feels a thrill that her life involves activities like these. It feels like she's watching herself from the outside, like watching a stranger. The fact that it makes her feel so _cool_ definitely negates any cool she actually has. 

Polly hustles her out. It's brisk and Piper clutches her thin jacket around herself as they stroll off campus, passing through end of the week hubbub, the mundane campus activity that Piper loves so much. The dealer lives a street away from their school, apparently not a student but situated close enough to make a good income from his college clientele. It's the first time Polly and Piper have been to his house – they're not big smokers and will usually just take a couple of tokes of whatever's being passed around. A couple of times they've bought joints off a friend. Polly had been the one to decide they'd come over to Brad and Max's room tonight, and that they'd bring weed, so she obtained the dealer's address and now they're going to buy drugs _for real_. The boys are cute- really cute – and Piper's been looking forward this all week. There's something so much more intoxicating about hooking up with guys when she and Polly are the ones seducing them. It makes her feel daring. 

They let themselves through a gate with a broken latch and make their way down a concrete path cutting though a slightly overgrown lawn. The dude's house is verging on run-down, a small white box with a grubby exterior and a broken mailbox. Piper and Polly argue in hushed whispers over who's going to ring the bell, giggling and nudging each other, such immature grade school shit. Polly shoves her firmly in the middle of her back, landing her directly in front of the door. Piper mock scowls at her and makes a show of ringing the bell. They wait. A minute passes and Piper's about to ring again when the door creaks open. 

A girl – woman – a few years older than them is peering at them from behind the screen door. She's dressed in a wife beater and black jeans that are practically falling off her hips, and has jet black hair, a rose tattoo on her upper arm and sexy librarian glasses. She looks like she just woke up, or maybe is stoned. “Yeah?” she grunts at them. 

Piper and Polly exchange glances. “Um, is Alex here?” Polly ventures, her voice accidentally going into a high pitched sorority girl cadence. Black-haired girl squints at them like she's deciding if she can be bothered answering. 

“I'm Alex.”

“Oh!” exclaims Polly.

Piper is blushing furiously and she doesn't know why. “Oh, we thought... I don't know why, we... I...”

“You here to buy?” Alex interrupts her stammering. They nod in unison. “Come in, then.” She pushes the door towards them and walks back into the house, leaving them to scramble after her. 

The girls' stand awkwardly in Alex's yellow lit living room as she saunters over to her old-looking red couch and begins peeling the couch fabric apart. It's all Velcroed together. Piper watches in fascination as she slides out a hidden compartment that makes up the back of the couch. 

“What do you want?” 

“We just want some weed?” Polly says tentatively.

Alex sighs. “How much?”

“Ummm...” Polly looks at Piper. She feels the same, Piper can tell, awkward and clumsy around this girl. Maybe it's because she exudes cool, and Piper and Polly , while liking to think of themselves as rebellious free spirits, are still sheltered upper middle class girls when it comes down to it. 

“A quarter?” says Piper. 

Alex pulls out a saran-wrapped bundle and starts removes the outer layer, then an inner layer of coffee beans, then finally the weed. Piper can't help being impressed with her setup. 

She holds out a plastic baggie to Piper, keeping hold of it a moment too long when Piper reaches out to take it. Their eyes meet and a jolt runs through Piper. Hers are this electric blue, made all the more striking by her winged liner, and she's really _looking_ at Piper, like Piper is something of interest, and it makes her feel weird and warm inside. 

Alex lets go of the bag. “I didn't get your names.”

“Piper. And this is Polly.” Polly does an odd little wave. 

Alex leans her hip against the coffee table, keeping her eyes on Piper. “So there's this party tonight.”

“Oh, yeah?”

“Mm. At my friend Doug's. If you're not busy you should come.”

Piper's fool heart is beating faster, that warmth spreading through her body. “That'd be cool,” she tells Alex. She's beaming at her like a dork but she can't turn it off.

“We have plans, actually,” Polly says, sounding pissy. Alex doesn't acknowledge her. She's still looking at Piper in that intense way, and Piper feels like a deer mesmerised by headlights. 

“Piper!” Polly snaps. 

Piper comes back to herself. “Oh. Right. We do have plans.” She makes an apologetic face at Alex. 

Alex pulls her phone out of her pocket and hands it to Piper. “Put your number in,” she says in a low, gravelly voice that _does something_ to Piper. 

Piper obediently keys in her number and hands the phone back. Alex concentrates on her phone for a second. “In case you change your mind,” she tells Piper, and a second later her text message tone chimes. Piper smiles at her, the fuzzy warmth from inside lighting up her face. Alex flicks her gaze over to Polly, and seems surprised to see her there. 

“You can come too, Holly.”

“Gee, thanks.” Polly rolls her eyes. “Pipe, let's go.”

“Right. Nice to meet you, Alex. Thanks for...” she waves her package around. “You know.”

“Anytime,” Alex says, giving her a lazy grin. The girls turn and go. “See ya round, Holly!” Alex calls cheerfully after them. 

“It's _Polly_ ,” she yells back. 

* * * * * * * * * *

“What the fuck, Pipe?” Polly demands immediately upon getting outside. 

“Huh?” 

“What _was_ that?”

“What do you mean?” Piper furrows her brow. She's still feeling dazed after-effects of the weight of Alex's gaze, and she's having trouble tuning in to Polly's anger. 

“What do I mean?” Polly explodes, looking at Piper incredulously. “I mean, what was going on with you and super-bitch in there?”

“Hey!” Piper protests, feeling defensive. “I thought she was nice!” 

“She was _not_ nice, Piper,” Polly says condescendingly. “She was a rude cow, and you were weird. You were all...” she twirls her hair around her finger and makes dumb faces, putting on a high, breathy voice, “oh, we'd _love_ to come to your party! Oh, thank you _so_ much for selling drugs to us, miss drug dealer lady, that was _so_ nice of you. 

“Shut up,” Piper says amicably, knocking into Polly's side. 

“Anyway,” Polly says after a minute. “You didn't really want to go to that party, did you?”

“Honestly? I kinda did.”

Polly's lips flatten in distaste. “Why?” 

Piper mulls over her response. “I just... we go to all these college parties, and they're fun. But aren't they all... kind of the same? Like, this would be a new experience. Something different. I just want to see what it's like.” It sounds like it could be true, but it really, really is not. The _only_ reason she wants to go is the pull she feels toward Alex, the need to see her again, impress her, make her laugh. 

“I like those college parties,” Polly sighs, looking dejected. Piper feels a quick rush of guilt. 

“So do I,” she quickly assures her. “I just... thought it might be fun to check this out. See what a drug dealer's world looks like.” She waggles her eyebrows. “But we won't go.” 

“No... you're right, I guess. We could at least stop by later, maybe.” 

“Only if you _want_ to,” she says, nudging Polly, who rolls her eyes and nudges her back. 

* * * * * * * * * *

Somewhere along the way her enthusiasm for this night's been punctured, deflated like a balloon. She takes a few hits off a joint, not enough to get high, and lets Max kiss her, but she's not into it. She gives in, calls it a bust. She tries to insist Polly stay, feeling guilty, but Polly knows where she's heading and won't let her leave on her own. 

Piper feels better once they're on their way. It's easy to find the party, as it turns out, since they can hear it from blocks away. They follow the noise to a sprawling two-story place, a stark contrast from Alex's house earlier. The girls let themselves in the front door and gingerly make their way down a hallway that's packed with bodies. The living room is a makeshift dance floor, furniture pushed against the walls. It's lit with blue lights and pulsing with bodies. One girl is dancing in her bra and underwear. Two guys make out in the corner. A few people are crowded around a glass coffee table doing lines of what she assumes is coke. Jesus. At least she wasn't lying to Polly when she said this would be a new experience. She's wide-eyed taking it in. She can't see Alex, but she wouldn't be easy to spot in this crowded room. She pulls out her phone and shoots her a text message – _we're here!_ \- hoping she's checking her phone. They move further into the house, Polly linking their arms and pulling her close so she can yell into her ear. 

“You were right! This actually is pretty cool!” 

“See!” 

Polly glances before hissing right in her ear, “Were those people snorting cocaine?” Piper giggles. 

“I think so!” They're both giggling madly now. 

They quickly survey the people sprawled on the staircase. No Alex. The kitchen is littered with empty bottles and cups, and people here and there. A surfer looking guy is doing body shots off a girl in a fluorescent green bikini top. Still no Alex. Piper's phone is silent and she's beginning to feel utterly hopeless. They turn into the back hallway and suddenly there she is, standing right by the back door. She's talking to a curly haired girl, standing close and nodding seriously at her. Polly looks at Piper, who's unsure what to do now. She kind of doesn't want to go and interrupt their conversation, which looks intimate, but she doesn't know a single other person here. She's hovering in indecision when Alex spots her and her face lights up. She touches her friend on the arm and walks over to Piper and Polly. 

“You came!” 

“Yeah!” Piper says, beaming at her. She's lighting up from inside, just like earlier today. And Alex looks so genuinely happy to see her it's giving her a kind of high, and the way she immediately left that other girl to come talk to them, that shouldn't make her feel so special but it does. 

“Let me get you guys a drink!” Alex disappears into the kitchen. Piper turns her stupidly grinning face to Polly, who's got that look again like she could roll her eyes into space. Alex come back and hands them each a beer, and god she's gorgeous, red lips and black hair done up in a quiff. She has this punk rockabilly style that Piper loves and she kind of can't stop staring at her. 

Alex leads them to a sort of games room in the right hand corner of the house where an intense game of beer pong is being played. It's quieter here than the rest of the house, but they still have to shout to be heard. 

“Do you play?” Alex shouts. 

“We're kind of champions!” Piper yells, grinning. 

“I got two beer pong champions here!” Alex calls over to the table. 

“Good, coz Matt sucks!” says the redhead girl playing, shoving her partner, who stumbles and, clearly inebriated, can't quite recover and drops to his knees. 

“I'm awesome,” Matt slurs. 

“You're _drunk,_ ” the redhead corrects. “And you're terrible!”

“You're up, Polly!” Alex gives her a nudge. 

They watch the game quietly, shoulder to shoulder. Piper smiles benignly, her stomach fluttering nervously. Alex leans in to talk into her ear after a couple of minutes.

“Hey, you wanna go upstairs, where we can talk?”

Piper nods shyly. She trails behind Alex up the stairs and into a bedroom, Alex closing the door quietly behind them. She smiles at Piper.

“That's better.” She crosses to Piper in the middle of the room. “What's you last name?” Piper blinks in confusion at the question.

“Chapman.” Alex takes a step closer. 

“I'm really glad you came, Piper Chapman.” Her hand comes up to Piper's cheek, and Piper leans forward, and their lips meet. Alex's lips are so _soft._ Piper's kissed a girl before, in high school, drunk and giggly on wine by the pool, but it wasn't like this. Her lips are so, so soft, and Alex kisses her softly, then tilts her head and deepens the kiss. Piper's hands dig into Alex's hair and she groans desperately into her mouth. She's had good kisses and bad kisses, but this is another level entirely. It's slow, sensual, confident. Alex has serious skills. As Alex backs her towards the bed, Piper thinks hazily, I never want this to stop. 

* * * * * * * * * *

“So you're, what, gay now?” Polly arches a brow. 

“I'm not gay,” Piper responds breezily. “I'm just experimenting.” 

'Experimenting' is not quite the right phrase for what she's doing for Alex, but she doesn't want to be open about her relationship to Polly. It's not even that Alex is a girl, really, it's that Piper knows that Polly doesn't like Alex, actively can't stand her in fact, and it makes her feel secretive and cagey. She knows Polly will never understand, and she doesn't want to try to make her understand, but the fact is Piper is smitten. 

What is she actually doing with Alex? Having mind-blowing orgasms; talking about philosophy and ethics; accompanying her to parties and events, dolled up and smiling like arm candy, which she should feel weird about, but she just feels proud. Smug, almost. The way she feels about Alex has her feeling and acting like a different person, and she can see the red flags, she just can't bring her self to mind properly. 

Here grades are slipping. She is losing her ability to focus on anything that isn't Alex. Apparently she's someone who loses herself in relationships, which takes her by surprise. But Piper's never been in love before. Maybe she's not in love now, she can't be sure. But she's never felt like this before, completely wrapped up in someone. Alex is the first thing she thinks about when she wakes up. She hears her low, sexy voice in her mind while she's trying to concentrate in lectures, pictures her pursed lips, those divine lips, to the point of distraction. She sews blissful daydreams: she and Alex vacationing in Bali, in Paris, Alex pulling her into her arms at the top of the Eiffel Tower. Alex at her parents home in a Christmas sweater she would never actually wear, tucked underneath the tree laughing with her mom. 

Polly's voice snaps her back to reality. “So what's Supercunt got in store for you tonight? Some glam event? She buy you another dress?” 

Polly's been judgemental of Alex spending money on her. It's all over her face when Alex slides a sparkling bracelet on her wrist or picks her up in a limo. She was no longer able to keep her opinion to herself after Alex spontaneously came to pick her up for a ball, bearing a box with a brand new designer gown for Piper. She thinks Alex is making her into some sort of trophy wife, and it's not that Piper can't kind of understand her perspective, but she also wonders if maybe Polly isn't just a little bit jealous. 

It turns out Alex isn't some small-bit dealer selling weed to college kids like they'd assumed. Piper doesn't know what, exactly, she's into, she doesn't talk business with Piper. But she has money. Serious money. She has colleagues, all men, some of whom scare Piper. And she has the social schedule of a politician or socialite, schmoozing and wining and dining. She talks about contacts. Piper asks some tentative questions and is secretly relieved when Alex won't go into details. She doesn't think she really wants details. She truly is the dumb arm candy, no idea what's going on, just there to look pretty on Alex's arm. 

But Alex doesn't treat her like the dumb airhead she's starting to feel like. Alex listens to her. She takes in everything Piper says like hers is the most important opinion. She discusses everything – bar her work – with her. 

“I'm just going to hang out at her place, actually,” Piper says, swivelling her chair back towards the mirror. 

“Ah. Gonna hang out at the millionaire's crap shack.” 

Yet another thing Polly was judgemental about – the fact that Alex was so wealthy, but lived in the old box-house. When Piper had questioned Alex about it, she shrugged and explained, “The location is good.” 

“She's not a millionaire,” Piper says wearily. 

“The affluent drug dealer's crap shack, then.” 

“Look, can you stop?” Piper snaps. She tolerates a lot of Alex-bashing from Polly, but she's had enough.

“Sorry,” Polly says immediately, putting her hands up in surrender. “I'm sorry. I'm being an asshole, I know. Really, Pipe, I'm glad you're happy.” 

“I am happy.” 

“I know.” 

* * * * * * * * * *

Piper's lounging on Alex's bed, rattling on about Robert Frost while Alex smiles at her with equal parts indulgence and affection. Piper stops abruptly, suddenly self-conscious.

“What?” 

Alex shakes her head, running a piece of Piper's hair through her fingers. “I love you,” she says, quiet and earnest. 

Piper tries not to deal in cliches, but she swears the world stops completely. 

“You do?” she murmurs wondrously.

Alex nods. “I don't say that to everyone. You have to say it back,” she prompts, with an edge of fragility Piper has never seen in her before. 

Piper looks into her eyes, the most beautiful, brilliant, powerful woman she'd ever known. Who loves _her._

“I love you, too.”


End file.
